


Weekend in Radiator Springs

by lesbianbean



Category: Cars (Movies)
Genre: Dancing, Discussions of Relationships, F/F, Fluff, Human AU, Radiator Springs, Road Trips, marriage proposals, more car girlfriends, so much fluff it's sickening
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-04
Updated: 2017-07-15
Packaged: 2018-11-23 09:38:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11399928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbianbean/pseuds/lesbianbean
Summary: Cruz and Natalie conclude their summer road trip in Radiator Springs in time for the weekly town dance. Cruz is turning a major decision over in her head,





	1. The Cozy Cone at Midnight

**Author's Note:**

> Guess who's back w/more car girlfriends? In all seriousness, I can't stop thinking about these two, so here's a multichaptered fic about their relationship, with a side helping of Lightning and Cruz practicing racing and discussing relationships

The two women arrived at Radiator Springs just as the church bell tolled midnight. It had rained, and the the air was thick with the smell of wet concrete and summer dust that had turned to red mud. The neon reflected off the puddles and made the town look like a Christmas tree. Cruz took a few minutes to snap a photo of the Cozy Cone motel sign for her Instagram page while Natalie unloaded their suitcases. 

“Do you think anyone’s awake?” 

Cruz tucked her phone into her jeans pocket and walked over to help. “Probably not. But Sally gave me a room key at the Cozy Cone, and Lighting said we could come by their house tomorrow for breakfast.” 

“Sounds perfect.” 

They’d been driving for almost two days straight, sticking to back roads and stopping in small towns to get gas and meet new people. Cruz had gotten recognized more than once for autographs and questions about life as a famous racer. Natalie got a little nervous when too many people stopped by their truck stop table, but Cruz was good at making conversations with even the oddest people, and she always held Natalie’s hand under the table. 

“What was that trucker’s name, the one we saw yesterday morning?” Natalie asked as she tugged the pink-and-yellow striped curtains shut. Cruz stuck her head out of the shoebox-sized bathroom where she was washing her face. 

“The Duke.” 

“And he gave us his number?” 

“If we’re ever in Tennessee and we need new tires, we can call The Duke.” Natalie flopped down on the comfortingly creaky queen-sized light blue bed. Now that they were inside the motel she could let herself feel tired. She felt Cruz lie down next to her, and then her hands smoothing her hair. She sighed, leaning into her girlfriend more. 

“What’s the box on the side of the bed about?” 

“It’s called The Magic Fingers.” 

“What?” 

“Sally told me about them last time. The bed will vibrate if you put a quarter in.” 

“Seriously? Have you tried it?” 

“Nope. Never had the quarters. I can pick up a roll tomorrow if you want to test it out.” 

“I’ve only got my debit card.” 

“See, I brought quarters, but I spent them all on that machine winning you that stuffed bear with a calculator in it’s stomach.” Natalie was holding the very bear, tracing the button shapes she had memorized back in high school. 

“I still can’t think of what to name it.” 

“Katherine, maybe? The bear has glasses like that lady from Hidden Figures, and I know you loved that movie.” 

“We’ll have to find two more to have a complete set.” 

“Of course.” 

Cruz kissed Natalie’s temple. 

“I love traveling with you. You know, I’d never really been off the interstate before we met.” 

“Oooh, don’t tell Sally about that. She’ll blow a gasket.” 

“I did go on US Route 1 with my parents for a road trip when I was a kid. We went through New Jersey.” 

“Will you tell me about it?” Cruz loved road trip stories. Natalie described the fruit stands with the best tomatoes she’d ever had, the World’s Largest Lightbulb, and a truly disturbing museum they’d found after being lost for an hour.. 

“The taxidermied animals breathed, I swear. I saw one wink at me. Didn’t sleep at all for two days afterwards. Oh, and we saw where Alexander Hamilton got killed. Everything’s legal in New Jersey. And Cruz--Cruz?” 

Cruz was asleep. Natalie smiled, pulling the blanket over them. “Goodnight, babe.”


	2. Racing Practice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cruz and Lightning practice racing as the town wakes up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Lightning and Cruz's dynamic so much and it took forever to write this chapter, but I hope it turned out okay!

Cruz woke early the next morning. Natalie was still sound asleep, and she was careful not to jostle the bed as she showered and dressed. She kissed her on the forehead before slipping out the door. She needed to drive, and this was the only time she was going to have. The day was going to be consumed with planning for the dance. As she drove through town, she saw Mater carrying out the old jukebox under Flo’s direction. She waved, and Flo waved back, while Mater flashed his trademark toothy grin.

She wasn’t entirely surprised when she saw Lightning’s red Chevy already there. It was speeding across the hard-packed sand, leaving a cloud of silvery dust in its wake. She fell in next to him easily. Lightning and Cruz knew each other’s techniques and styles like they knew their own. The only communication they needed was the occasional nod or smile. As the horizon changed from black to dark blue, Cruz gestured to Lightning and they parked next to each other and climbed out of their cars. 

“Morning, Cruz! I thought I heard you and Natalie outside our window last night.” Lightning leaned back on the hood of his car, taking a swig from his coffee. 

“It’s called fun, old man. Kids these days like to have it.” 

Lighting handed her a second thermos of coffee, and she passed him the doughnut she’d picked up at the bakery. 

“I hope I put in enough sugar and cream for you.” Lightning made incredible coffee. He had a recipe he got from Doc, who had gotten it from Smokey. Cruz had asked him for the ingredients more than once, but all she’d gotten out of him was that it had espresso powder from a convenience store in Thomasville. 

“It’s perfect. Was the storm yesterday bad?” 

“Nah. We lost power for maybe an hour before Mater had it fixed. Well, actually Fillmore never lost power. And now, it looks like Sarge is going to let him install solar panels on the storage hut now.” 

“Seriously? They’ve been arguing about that for over a year.” 

“He only said maybe. But I think Sarge is getting into the idea of renewable energy. It means he’s not dependent on the electrical grid.” 

Cruz took a bite out of her doughnut. “God, I missed this place. Any other news?” 

“Sally’s thinking about running for county executive.” 

“Really?” 

Lightning had the misty look on his face he always got when he was thinking about Sally. 

“Yeah. The seat’s open next cycle and she wants to do more to help revitalize this area.” 

“I can’t think of anyone better for that then her.” 

“Me either.” 

“I just wish Doc could be here to see everything. He always thought that Sally should run for office.” Lightning reflexively traced the 51 patch on his sleeve. He was wearing an model of Doc Hudson's iconic dark blue Hudson Hornet racing jacket, only it said "The Fabulous Lightning McQueen" on the back. 

“Mr. McQueen, can I ask you a question?” 

“Of course.” 

Cruz watched the sky for a few minutes before speaking again. 

“How did you know you loved Sally?” 

McQueen looked startled. “I kind of thought you were going to ask me about racing.” 

“Well, I actually have a binder full of questions about my last race in the car. But I wanted to ask you this first.” 

Lightning chuckled. “Is this about a certain statistician?” 

“I kind of...I might want to marry her.” Cruz deliberately didn’t look at Lighting as she spoke, staring fixedly at the clouds changing color on the horizon. “You know, we moved in together a few months ago.” Lightning nodded, and Cruz took that as a cue to continue. “I do, um, love her. I know that. I just don’t know--like, how do you know when to move to the next step?” 

“I don’t think there’s a way to know for sure, Cruz. I wish there was--it would make things easier. There’s never a moment when you know for sure.” 

“So there was never a time when you looked at Sally and thought--” Cruz did her best impression of Lightning “Wow, I want to spend the rest of my life with her.” 

“I don’t talk like that!” 

“I beg to differ.” 

“Okay, smartass.” 

They both laughed, and then Lightning drained the last of his coffee, crunching the cup in his hand. 

“The first time I thought about maybe being with her forever was after that race in 2006, you know the one where the King crashed? When we got back to Radiator Springs, it was nearly one in the morning, and she was sitting in front of the Cozy Cone, reading a book by the light of the neon sign, and I just thought--” 

Cruz cut in “Wow.” 

Lightning nodded. “Exactly.” 

Cruz’s phone buzzed loudly and she jumped, pulling it out of her pocket. “It’s Natalie. She and Sally are at Flo’s getting breakfast.” 

“We should join them. Race you back to town?” 

‘You’re on, Mr. McQueen.”


	3. Town Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The much-anticipated town dance happens

The road Lightning had paved years ago had faded to a light grey-blue, but the neon lights were just as bright as the night when Doc had called the press to the town. Cruz and Natalie got ready in their motel room. They could hear the town preparing outside as the last of the daylight faded.   
Natalie wore the dark pink tailored pants and ivory blouse that she’d worn to analyze the last race of the season, and Cruz wore a bright yellow sundress that she’d found at a thrift store in one of the small towns they’d visited.

“It’s nice to get dressed up for something that isn’t either a racing or marketing event.” Natalie said as she slid on her favorite pumps. “What’s the weather looking like tonight?” 

“It’s supposed to be kind of chilly, although there’s no rain, thank God. Hey, do you want to wear my jacket?” 

“Really?” 

“I know your blazer got crumpled.” 

“Cruz, are you sure?” 

The jacket was draped over a fat armchair patterned with a map of desert roads. It had been there since the pair had taken a midafternoon nap (and tried out the bed’s vibrate setting). Cruz picked it up and held it out to Natalie, who shook her head. 

“Try it on. C’mon.” 

“All right.” Natalie stretched out her arms and let Cruz help her into the blue and yellow jacket. It smelled like gasoline, sweat and the daisy scented deodorant that Cruz always used, and she could see traces of red dust from the track on the sleeves. She breathed in and reached down to squeeze Cruz’s hand. 

“It looks good on you, ‘Lee.” Cruz kissed her cheek. 

“What’s with you tonight, Cruz?” 

“I was thinking about how Mr. McQueen gave Sally his jacket after he won his first Piston Cup.” 

“Yeah, but...” 

“What?” 

“She was his fiance.” 

Something flickered over Cruz’s face, and Natalie felt her heartbeat in her ears. 

“We’ve been together for almost a year. And it’s not like there are going to be cameras tonight. It’s just Radiator Springs.” 

Natalie rubbed the sleeve of the jacket between her fingers for a moment, and then pulled Cruz down for a long kiss. 

“I love it.” 

Their mouths collided again, and Cruz’s hand was in her hair, and they were so going to be late for the dance. When they finally pulled apart, Cruz’s mouth was smeared with Natalie’s color coordinated lipstick. 

“You should wear it on the show.” 

“Maybe I will.” 

It was about ten minutes later when they stumbled out of the motel. The road was closed off, ready for the townspeople. Some big band hit from the 1940s was playing, and Flo and Ramone were already waltzing, looking like Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. Cruz and Natalie hurried out to join them. 

“Evening, ladies.” Ramone dipped Flo until her bright green poodle skirt brushed against the ground. “You’re looking ready to dance.” 

Flo chuckled. “I remember when we were that young, baby. We were the champion of every dancing competition from here to Albuquerque.” 

“It was easy when my partner was the prettiest girl in the room.” 

Cruz held out a hand to Natalie, already swaying to the music. “I’ll remember the moves you taught me last time, Ramone. Thanks again for the lessons.” 

“Anytime, chica.” 

Natalie took Cruz’s hand and wrapped an arm around her waist, whispering “Please warn me before you attempt any dipping.” Cruz laughed and nodded. 

The music kept playing, a mix of classics and newer hits, and the dance floor slowly filled up. Lightning and Sally came out onto the dance floor after they finished setting up the buffet table, and Fillmore dragged a protesting Sarge out to dance to “Yellow Submarine.” 

“Do you think someday we’ll be like Flo and Ramone?” Natalie asked as they sipped the Sheriff’s homemade punch. 

“You mean dance as well as they do? Probably not. I don’t know anyone who’s that good..” 

“I meant, you know, together for decades and still crazy in love.” 

Cruz stared at her. “Together for decades?” 

Panic hit Natalie like a train. “I mean, it’s not like I’m U-hauling or anything. It was just, you know, a random thought.” 

“‘Lee, I want to--” Cruz looked over her shoulder and then grabbed Natalie’s arm. “Come with me.” 

They ducked into the quiet alleyway behind the fire station. Red’s flowers were sparkling with water drops, and the music was still audible, but only faintly. 

“Cruz, what are you--” Cruz got down on one knee, and she was pulling a box out of her pocket and Natalie’s mind short-circuited. “Oh my God.” 

“Natalie Certain, do you wanna marry me?” 

“Yes! Yes, of course.” Natalie pulled Cruz to her feet so she could kiss her. “I love you.” 

Cruz stepped back, taking Natalie’s hand in her own and sliding the ring on her finger. 

“I love you too.” 

Something slow was playing on Main Street, and Cruz and Natalie danced to it, arms around each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I actually finished something! Anyway, Cruz and Natalie are going to live happily after, because they're the f/f animated couple we all deserve.


End file.
